Cafe Ambrosia Wine Dinner

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The monthly dinner of "CJ's Wine & Dine" group was held tonight at Cafe Ambrosia in Long Beach. I had not been to this restaurant before. When I first received notice of this dinner I was very apprehensive about it. This was the first time a dinner had been planned that all the wines were to be provided. (we always bring a bottle). Also the price was set at $60 inclusive. Which wasn't out of line, but with the Greek wines I have had in the past I wasn't to sure it was going to be the best dinner.

Was I ever surprised. Not only was it a 12 course dinner, the wines were very good. There were 29 people attending this dinner. So needless to say after a couple of glasses of wine the noise level rose considerably. Dinner started at 6:00 pm and I got home at 12:30 pm. Anyone that knows me, realizes that this is remarkable for me to be out after 10:00 pm. I'm such an early riser that I find it hard to get to excited about keeping night owl hours.

We started off with 4 Greek spreads, Skordaia (really garlicky), Tsatziki, Hummus and Taramosalata along with pita bread (warm from being freshly made). I need to find out how to make the Skordalia and Taramosalata, both I found were very good.

Next came "Flamed Saganaki", a Greek cheese flamed at the table. It was gooey and soft right from the pan, but hardened up slightly and on the plate. This was a big hit.

Plates of feta with olives were served. Very good mild feta cheese (not overly salty).

Then came the charbroiled octopus. This was so good. I have had octopus before but never cooked this way. It had olive oil and red wine vinegar on it and I would go back to "Ambrosia" just for this.

The Dolma and the Spanakopita came along. I was starting to get full by this time but you just kept nibbling away at the dishes brought out because you feel that you might miss something if you don't. The Spanakopita was one of the best I have ever had. Light, fluffy and very tasty.

The Keftedes was next. Meatballs with a spiced tomato sauce. These very good but if I had to cut out a dish from the menu this would be one of them.

The Felafel was served. It was OK but I felt it was a little dry . I could have missed this dish from the list.

The vegetable Mousaka found its way onto the table. Again, excellent

Somehow our end of the table missed the Pastichio (Greek Lasagna) and the Gyro. ( we had 15 people at our table) It was getting very crowded at the table with all the food dishes, the bottles of wine and all the wine glasses. Maybe it was a good thing because next came the lamb chops.

I can really get into lamb. I have liked this meat since I was very young These chops were sizzling when served. Very good grilled flavors and very succulent.

There were 11 or 12 wines served. There were so may bottles on the table that it was really hard to keep track of them . Also the lighting was set for ambiance and not for an "older than dirt" person like me to be able to read, or keep any kind of notes. All were surprisingly good. A couple that I really liked were the 2005 Semeli Moschofiler, the 2003 Chateau Semeli and the Grande Reserva Naoussa. You could purchase these wines tonight for a discounted price and an additional 8% off if the total of all the orders were 120 bottles. I had to keep saying to myself, "do not buy", "do not buy". I have to get my wine inventory under control before I purchase any more wines.